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Camille O'Grady
Camille O’Grady is a New York City poet and performance artist part of the avant-garde of visual artists, writers, and musicians. Born in Montclair, New Jersey now living in San Francisco, California. Historical Trivia Camille O’Grady is named as one of only three women allowed entrance to the infamous 1970s New York City gay bar The Mineshaft, according to actress Annie Sprinkle (and Wikipedia), who said she was one of three women ever allowed in, one of the other women was Camille O'Grady: The Mineshaft was a members-only BDSM gay bar and sex club located at 835 Washington Street, at Little West 12th Street, in Manhattan, New York City, in the Meatpacking District, West Village, and Greenwich Village sections.Patrick Moore, Beyond Shame: Reclaiming the Abandoned History of Radical Gay Sexuality, Beacon Press, 2004, , p. 19. Description Among those who frequented the Mineshaft were Jack Fritscher, who was present at its opening night and attended hundreds of times,Jack Fritscher, "The Mineshaft", introduction, written 2002, to reprint of article first published in Drummer, 19, December 1977, http://www.jackfritscher.com/PDF/Drummer/Vol%201/33_Mineshaft_Mar2008_PWeb.pdf, retrieved September 29, 2014. Fritscher's lover Robert Mapplethorpe, who took many pictures of the Mineshaft and was at one point its official photographer ("After dinner I go to the Mineshaft."),William E. Jones, "True Homosexual Experiences" Boyd McDonald and "Straight to Hell", Los Angeles, We Heard You Like Books, 2016, , p. 75.Jack Fritscher, Robert Mapplethorpe: Assault with a Deadly Camera, pp. 189-190.Mapplethorpe's membership card for the Mineshaft can be seen in the 2016 documentary Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (http://www.mapplethorpefilm.com, retrieved April 22, 2016). gay erotic artist Rex,Fritscher pp. 502-505 and 509. and Annie Sprinkle, who said she was one of three women ever allowed in."Keith Hennessy asks Annie Sprinkle Ten Questions about the Old Days", Dance Theatre Journal, 2013, reprinted at http://tessawills.com/when-sex-performance-came-together/, retrieved September 29, 2014."Annie Sprinkle's Kinky NYC 1975-1995", http://anniesprinkle.org/2008-events, retrieved September 29, 2014. (One of the other women was Camille O'Grady.Jack Fritscher, introduction to reprint of "The Mineshaft" from Drummer 19, December, 1977, Gay San Francisco: Eyewitness Drummer, San Francisco, Palm Drive Publishing, 2008, , pp. 471, 474, and 510, http://www.jackfritscher.com/PDF/Drummer/Vol%201/33_Mineshaft_Mar2008_PWeb.pdf, retrieved September 29, 2014.) Manager Wally Wallace (born James Wallace) said that he turned away Mick Jagger, and a bouncer turned away Rudolf Nureyev.Fritscher, p. 479. Vincente Minnelli, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Rock Hudson, and Michel Foucault got in.Fritscher, pp. 479 and 510. There was no sign on the entrance; the exterior has been described as "grimy".Patrick Moore, Beyond Shame. Reclaiming the Abandoned History of Radical Gay Sexuality, Boston, Beacon Press, 2004, , p. 178. The location had previously been used by a gay bar, Zodiac.Paul L. Montgomery, "Raids Close 9 After-Hours Bars Linked to Mafia", New York Times, July 19, 1971, p. 1. The entrance to the club was up a flight of stairs, on the second floor. The door was manned by someone who rejected anyone wearing preppie clothes or cologne, and this was widely known, part of what made the bar influential. Originally the Mineshaft was on that one floor (and with a scat room, which was soon abandoned as too extreme).Moore, p. 23. It soon expanded to the first floor beneath, using back stairs to access a recreation of a jail cell, the back of a truck, dungeons, and a room containing spotlighted bathtubs in which men could let other men urinate on them.Will Kohler, "LGBT History Month: Remembering the Mineshaft - 835 Washington St. NYC, NY (1976-1985)", http://www.back2stonewall.com/2012/10/disappearing-gay-history-mineshaft-835.html, October 4, 2012, retrieved September 29, 2014.Jack Fritscher, "Pissing in the Wind", Drummer, 19, December 1977, reprinted with introduction by Jack Fritscher, http://www.jackfritscher.com/PDF/Drummer/Vol%201/33_Mineshaft_Mar2008_PWeb.pdf, retrieved September 29, 2014, also reprinted as "Wet Dreams, Golden Showers" in Corporal in Charge of Taking care of Captain O'Malley And Other Canonical Stories, San Francisco, Gay Sunshine Press, 1984, , pp. 193-202, reprinted at http://www.jackfritscher.com/PDF/Corporal/Wet%20Dreams.pdf, retrieved September 29, 2014. The upper floor or bar (no alcohol was sold, for legal reasons) had a roof deck, dungeons, slings, and cans of Crisco, at the time popular among gay men as a sexual lubricant. (The sexual lubricants available in 2018 were not even dreamed of.) Nudity or minimal clothing was encouraged, and a clothes check was provided. Recreational drug use was far from rare. According to the Mineshaft Newsletter, Fist Fuckers of America held meetings there.Mineshaft Newsletter, February 1978, quoted by Jack Fritscher, http://www.jackfritscher.com/PDF/Drummer/Vol%201/33_Mineshaft_Mar2008_PWeb.pdf, Also p. 508, retrieved September 29, 2014. There was a wall of glory holes.Will Kohler, "LGBT History Month: Remembering the Mineshaft - 835 Washington St. NYC, NY (1976-1985)", http://www.back2stonewall.com/2012/10/disappearing-gay-history-mineshaft-835.html, October 4, 2012, retrieved September 29, 2014. Promiscuity was celebrated. The images and posters for the club were created by the gay erotic artist Rex. The existence of the Mineshaft was widely known among gays who never visited; it has been called a "mythical...space".Moore, p. 20. The Mineshaft operated from October 8, 1976 until it was closed by the New York City Department of Health on November 7, 1985, although tax problems played a significant role in its closing.Jay Bletcher, "Sex Club Owners: The Fuck Suck Buck Stops Here", in Policing Public Sex. Queer Politics and the Future of AIDS Activism, Boston, South End Press, 1996, , pp. 25-44, at p. 33. After it closed, six men, associated with both the Mineshaft and an affiliated heterosexual club, the Hellfire, were charged with a variety of crimes.Kirk Johnson, "6 Tied to Late-Night Clubs Indicted in Conspiracy Case", New York Times, March 1, 1986. Four pleaded guilty, former New York City police officer Richard Bell was convicted, and the sixth fled the country to escape prosecution.Associated Press, "Ex-Officer Is Convicted In Sex-Club Operation", New York Times, November 18, 1986. Dress code A sign said the following: The Mine Shaft dress code as adopted by the club on October 1, 1976 is to be followed during the year 1978. :::::The Board of Directors Approved dress includes the following: Cycle leather & Western gear, levis Jocks, action ready wear, uniforms, T shirts, plaid shirts, just plain shirts, Club overlays, patches, & sweat. NO COLOGNES or PERFUMES NO SUITS, TIES, DRESS PANTS NO RUGBY SHIRTS, DESIGNER SWEATERS, or TUXEDOS NO DISCO DRAG or DRESSES ::::::also NO HEAVY OUTTER sic WEAR IS TO BE WORN IN PLAYGROUND NOTE: The code was designed for particular men who compose the basic core of our clubPosted on maleholeformale9.tumblr.com, https://36.media.tumblr.com/86db660b472aa578684e8abe8ef7c217/tumblr_nrke38O8L51tzk694o4_r1_1280.jpg, retrieved 7/25/2015. Typographically edited Popular culture The Al Pacino movie Cruising was intended to depict gay cruising as it existed at the Mineshaft, though the bar is not named in the movie.Unsigned, Was The Mineshaft A Mafia Joint?, http://bitterqueen.typepad.com/friends_of_ours/2010/12/was-the-mineshaft-a-mafia-joint.html, December 29, 2010, retrieved September 29, 2014. Since the Mineshaft would not allow filming, scenes from the movie were filmed at the Hellfire Club, which was decorated to resemble the Mineshaft. Regulars from the Mineshaft appeared as extras.Jack Fritscher, p. 509. Scenes were shot in streets and other locations near the Mineshaft.Fritscher, p. 506. Pacino attended as part of researching his role. (A bar called the Mineshaft does not appear in the 1970 novel Cruising by Gerald Walker, which, with substantial changes, was the inspiration for the 1980 film of the same name.) According to Jack Fritscher, Jacques Morali drew his inspiration for the four archetypes of the Village People from the Mineshaft's dress code.Fritscher, p. 509. Glenn Hughes, the original leather biker of the Village People, frequently attended.Fritscher, p. 466. Freddie Mercury wears a Mineshaft T-shirt in the official video for the Queen song Don't Stop Me Now. External Links * Linked In page * Facebook age * Recent perforance * Performance video *December 1, 1977: Rene Ricard and Camille O’Grady